What was the savoy ballroom?

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"1929 saw the stock market crash and the biggest crisis hit America since the civil war and marked an end to the hedonistic and indulgent jazz age. Black America was hit hardest and nowhere was this more apparent than in the contrast of renaissance and depression ravaged Harlem. Providing welcome respite from the hardships of the time something was incubating in the local clubs like the savoy ballroom. This episode is one of the most relevant to us swing enthusiasts and it opens with a lovely interview with Norma Miller, a dancer who with the late great Frankie manning pioneered the lindy hop. Named after the great aviator of the day Charles Lindbergh, the lindy hop was the latest dance craze beginning to take hold in Harlem.. She describes what it was like to grow up with this cultural revolution happening outside her door. She had lived behind the savoy ballroom, known as the home of happy feet, and it was a palace of dance, a melting pot where people from all walks of life would try to out dance one another. This touching interview can be read in its entirety here."
Read the full article here:
http://kilkennyswing.com/the-history-of-jazz-music-and-swing-dancing/
Videos from Ken Burns wonderful documentary "Jazz"
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/
Watch the other videos in the series from the playlist
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL52433E493E003A65&feature=plcp
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• jazz
• swing
• savoy ballroom
• norma miller